Copyright 2014 by Peter Reinhart
Photographs copyright 2014 by Paige Green
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reinhart, Peter.
Bread revolution : world-class baking with sprouted and whole grains, heirloom flours, and fresh techniques / Peter Reinhart; photography by Paige Green.
pages cm
1. Bread. 2. Cooking (Cereals) 3. Cookbooks. lcgft I. Title. II. Title: World-class baking with sprouted and whole grains, heirloom flours, and fresh techniques.
TX769.R4148 2014
641.815dc23
2014015090
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60774-651-5
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60774-652-2
Food stylist: Karen Shinto
Food styling assistant: Jeffrey Larsen
Photography assistant: Debbie Wilson
Photography assistant: Morgan Bellinger
Prop stylist: Tessa Watson
Prop stylist assistant: Alexis Scarborough
Surfaces donated by Heritage Salvage, Petaluma
v3.1
INTRODUCTION
Breadwell, actually wheatis once again in the crosshairs. And not just wheat, but other grains too, depending on who you believe and what your struggles are. There are a lot of theories about diet, wheat, grains, and carbohydrates floating around and, not surprisingly, they all seem plausible. And like it or not, bread is getting the blame for a lot of ills. I have baker friends who say, It will pass, just like the last scare. But Im not so sure.
Fifteen years ago the Atkins diet was very popular, followed by the South Beach diet and other low-carb plans. Collectively, they took a big bite out of the bread market, and the immediate result was that Wonder Bread lost a lot of sales but somehow recovereduntil recently, that is, when the parent company declared bankruptcy. In 2003, when numerous reporters at a bread conference asked me, Is bread dead? my reply was, No. Bread has been with us for six thousand years; I dont think its going away. But my less public response to my baker friends was, Theres an opportunity here. Its time to focus on whole grain breads and make them as good as the artisan loaves. This is the future. And so they didnot because of anything I said, but because it was the logical, intuitive, necessary thing to do. Yet here we are, ten years later, and thanks to the growing (and important) gluten-free movement and some recent popular books, even whole grain breads have a big bulls-eye on them. What on earth is going on? Is it possible, after six thousand years, that bread really is dead? I still say no, but once again we bakers are at a crossroads and need to ask, What is the opportunity within all of this concern?
ROOTS OF A REVOLUTION
Ive been thrilled and privileged to be in the midst of the American artisan bread revolution that began in the mid-1980s. Actually, its roots go back even further, as Ive chronicled in earlier books, but it wasnt until the 1980s that things really took off. I remember the excitement that many of us felt as we metaphorically and literally sat at the feet of our mostly European bread heroes and learned their tricks of pre-ferments and soakers and how the relationship of time and temperature work on ingredients. The excitement of discovery was palpable as bakers and millers took field trips together to meet farmers and learn about the differences among wheat varieties and the influences of terroir .
Soon, schools of thought emerged, with disciples of various bread masters working their way through dogmatic beliefs, arguing about the virtues of poolish versus biga, yeast versus wild yeast, mixing versus folding, and high-protein versus low-protein flours. They faced off at competitions and in the marketplace and railed against the mainstream. Then they softenedintegrating, expanding, and sharing their repertoires with each other and creating new schools of thought. American teams excelled at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (the World Cup of Bread or, as we call it, the Bread Olympics). American bakers, who had been cross-pollinating each others approaches with growing stores of knowledge and expertise, became internationally influential. The home baking movement grew exponentially through the advent of baking websites and award-winning bread books, each adding a new technique or breakthrough method and posing questions that were previously taboo, such as, Do we really need to knead? and, Can bread thats partially baked and frozen and then rebaked be as satisfying as a freshly baked loaf?
Over the years Ive become friends with a lot of bakers, millers, and farmers. Its a wonderful community of earthy, spiritual, generous, and above all hardworking people. Its also a community of creative, resourceful, and resilient people. Six thousand years is a long lineage; bread and makers of bread are not going away. But I will say this: during breads six-thousand-year saga, bread bakers have always been reinventing themselves and their craft.
This brings us to the current momentthe opportunity at hand. If youve followed me through my literary journey with bread, you know that Im fascinated by new frontiers and revolutionary turning points, whether cold fermentation, new ways to make whole grain breads, or even unconventional methods for making gluten-free bread. Early on, I learned that answers come by asking the right questions: what-if questions and questions that others are too timid or narrowly focused to ask. Some people have the tenacity to do one thing over and over again until they do it better than anyone else. They establish benchmarks and signposts for those who follow in their path. Others, more restless in spirit, step onto paths less traveled and forge new frontiers. Sometimes they go too far and disappear for a timeor forever. But sometimes they stumble upon fertile ground and become the pioneers for the next wave.
While I admire beyond words those who can relentlessly drill down deeper and deeper in their Zen-like quest for the perfect loaf, I tend to be even more fascinated by and drawn toward those adventurous souls who yearn for something not yet seen. Ive lived in each world at different times, and I believe both are essential aspects of the journey. But at this crucial time and crossroads in the history of bread, I especially delight in exploring the as-yet-unknown and in meeting others who, each in his or her own way, expand the boundaries of what is possible. In this book, Ive applied some of what Ive learned from them to create new recipes and formulas, and I also share some of their recipes, insights, and stories.
Some of the things these bakers are exploring address current questions related to health and nutrition, some focus on flavor, and some are responses to global, environmental, and holistic concerns. Each is a piece of the puzzle of how bread, glorious in its tradition, symbolism, and significance, is relevant at this time. As youll see in the following pages, I think it is. In fact, I think bread is having, as it has so often throughout history, yet another revolutionary moment.